Dark and Light
by Princess Vera
Summary: Years later, Syaoran and Sakura must work together once again to face a new threat. As they fight magical monsters and inner demons, will they be able to rediscover their childhood love?
1. Chapter 1: The Mansion

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**Disclaimer**

Card Captor Sakura and the characters and objects within were created by the members of CLAMP, published by Kodansha, and serialized in Nakayoshi. I make no claim to ownership of CLAMP characters, settings, or objects. This story is intended for entertainment purposes only and does not take away from the sale or production of any official Card Captor Sakura material. Any other resemblances to other works, published or unpublished, are coincidental, including the title.

** Introduction**

1. You'll notice that a line break like this:

* * *

marks "OOC" parts. I will try to be as OOC as little as possible. 

2. This story was written more than 6 years ago by hand. I have little intention of changing previously posted parts unless you find issues with consistency, etc. When I get to the part that says "From here on, the story is new" then I will ask for more constructive criticism.

3. This story is intended to be fairly long, the length of a novel/novelette. You have been warned.

4. I am using the Japanese names to preserve authenticity, but am doing family name second – just in case anyone is confused. However, the informality of using the last name of someone with whom you don't have a very close relationship is preserved.

BEGIN

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**Dark and Light**

**Part I: The Power**

**Chapter 1: The Mansion**

He'd sensed it as soon as he'd seen her. Magic, or the potential for it, almost limitless. She'd looked back at him innocently, not knowing who he was.

Syaoran Li almost hadn't had the nerve to try taking the Clow Cards from her. It didn't matter now; he'd failed anyway.

It was six and a half years later, anyhow; that incident was long past. He'd changed, and Sakura had changed. They were no longer children with childhood loves. The confessions they had so tenderly and innocently shared when the Hope Card was captured were long past.

There was always something going on the world. Something to take him apart from Sakura. The Clow Cards were famous all over the world now; imitation sets had sprung up in China, Europe, and most recently, in North America. But there were no new Card Captors. Only Clow Reed could choose Card Captors. And he had not chosen any new ones.

It was up to him and Sakura. They would no longer have the help of Cerberus and Yue, who had long since been sealed away, nor the help of Eriol and Kaho, who were in Europe, trying to stem the tide of panic from the havoc that the loosed cards were wreaking.

"Hey, Syaoran-kun!" Sakura called from his doorway. Syaoran opened his eyes; he hadn't heard her come in. "Tomoyo-chan is coming tomorrow!" Her emerald eyes sparkled. "She's boarding the plane now."

Syaoran sighed. "Haven't you ever heard of knocking?" He'd been sitting on the meditation mat, facing the window, his back to the door. Now he turned, annoyed, to look at her standing in the doorway.

"But... your door's open," she said, sounding hurt. Brushing long brown bangs out of her eyes, she looked at him, as if trying to determine if he were really angry. "Will you come with me to the airport tomorrow?"

"Sakura!" He rolled his eyes at her. "Can't you do anything by yourself? I have better things to do!"

"Fine, I'll go myself!" She glared at him. "Still Mr. Stuck-up, too good to be seen with a girl." She turned her back on him and stalked away. "You'd think he'd be a little more polite. And his door _is_ open, anyhow..."

"At least I don't talk to myself," he called after her loudly, and got up to close the door. What was it with girls, anyhow? He'd see Daidouji soon enough – in fact, it was only twenty minutes between Daidouji's private landing pad and the hotel. There wasn't any need to follow Sakura to the airport. Besides, it was summer, and too hot to go out.

_But you're missing out on being with Sakura_, said a little whisper in the back of his mind.

"Oh, shut up!" he told the voice.

----

Sakura sat alone by the double-doors of the control tower. Tomoyo's family owned private landing pads all over the United States, as well as a sizable fleet of small private jets. Tomoyo's family was very rich, and Tomoyo herself was now the owner of a huge fashion company known internationally. Tomoyo also owned a smaller line of digital recording devices. That was because one of Tomoyo's favorite hobbies had been videotaping Sakura.

However, it was boring, sitting alone and staring at the sky, waiting for the jet to come in. She didn't have Syaoran to talk to. "Stubborn, stuck-up Chinese kid!" she muttered under her breath, but smiled a little too, fingering the tiny key, the Sakura key, that was on her necklace.

"The plane is now arriving. Please clear all objects and people off of the landing pad," a mechanical female voice said. Sakura stood excitedly, looking up at the sky out of the window, watching a small passenger plane do a triple roll in the air before swooping in to hit the runway, a quarter-mile away.

Her skin prickled. Turning, she jumped backwards against the window. "Syaoran!" she said, startled. "I didn't think you were coming."

Amber eyes, a full head above hers, regarded her with the slightest hint of disdain. "It turns out I had nothing else to do," he answered, and shrugged.

The plane rolled to a stop on the runway. Sakura ran for the double doors and pulled them open, running outside. The ramp extended from the plane.

"Sakura! Li!" Tomoyo shouted from the top of the ramp, waving. She began to walk down the steps, quickly, but more dignified than Sakura was running; Tomoyo was a businesswoman, after all. Close behind her, the pilot was carting several boxes of luggage down the ramp. "You haven't caught many new ones yet, have you?"

"No," Sakura grinned at her friend. "We were waiting for you."

----

Syaoran trailed behind Sakura. She'd only seen Daidouji a few weeks ago, and they were hugging like it had been years. What was it with girls, anyhow?

"Hey, Li," Daidouji called. "When did you get that tall?"

He rolled his eyes. "I've been this tall for years." Daidouji was even shorter than Sakura, who was almost a full foot shorter than he was. Her black hair was plaited back into the same braid that she'd worn for years.

"I brought you a whole new set of outfits, Sakura!" Daidouji said, changing the subject. Syaoran suppressed a scowl. "One for each of the forty cards left!"

Syaoran hadn't found it to be a problem, because he had natural magic skills – but Sakura's magic depended almost solely on the cards, which, since she had sealed her own away some years ago, had made it quite difficult for her to catch any at first.

"Anyhow, I've rented a house in the country for all three of us," Daidouji continued.

Had Syaoran not spent years learning self-control, his jaw would have dropped. From the grin on Sakura's face, she had been expecting it.

"I saw the limo parked outside," Sakura said. "Are we moving today?"

"Yes!" Daidouji said.

Syaoran sighed. "Are all the functions in the house at least set in English? We're exchange students here too, you know. We should at least be practicing."

"Of course," Daidouji and Sakura said at the same time.

He frowned. "Why not stay in the city? No one's been in danger yet, and it's more convenient."

"Syaoran," Sakura said slyly, "If some of the university students should accidentally find pictures of you in costume..." She waved a photo album. "Besides, Tomoyo-chan has probably already had all our stuff moved while we were gone."

He stared down at both of them. Their expressions were almost identical, that of cats who had caught a mouse. "Fine," he said, sighing.

"Tomoyo-chan, you're the best!" Sakura said, flashing Syaoran a smile.

----

Syaoran did the math in the limo. At the rate they were catching cards, it would take another four or five months to catch the rest of the cards, which meant that he and Sakura had to stay for the entirety of the summer, and the next school semester as well. The thought of the rest of the year in a house alone with two girls and nothing to do... it was almost too much to bear.

"Sword, Float, Silence, Fly, Windy, and Jump," Sakura was telling Daidouji. "Syaoran has -"

"Power, Dark, Time, Flower, Dash, Invisibility," he interrupted.

"It's really too bad you can't use the Sakura cards," Daidouji said, all but ignoring Syaoran. Why did he even bother talking to them? "You would have caught them all by now!"

Syaoran scowled. It was true; the reason why he and Sakura had even numbers of cards now was because she'd started out at a disadvantage. He stared out of his window. They were well away from any towns and cities, driving through rolling gray-green mountains on a tiny two-lane road.

He heard Sakura gasp, and turned to look at the other side. Daidouji was pointing; he could see a gigantic, three-story estate, set in the side of a mountain. "Tomoyo-chan, you said it was a house! Not a mansion!"

"You'll need lots of spaces to catch cards!" Daidouji said, as if that made logical sense.

Syaoran wondered exactly how rich Daidouji was.

----

Despite all of his annoyance at moving, Syaoran could not help but be pleased with his room. Daidouji had anticipated his complaints. The decorations were sparse, except for a family portrait, a chart of the elements, and protection symbols hanging over the door and window. Instead of a normal bed, there was a futon rolled up in one corner, a door to a private bathroom in the corner, a closet, and a kotatsu table in the center of the room.

His suitcase lay on the floor beside the closet. He'd already checked it out. Thankfully, Daidouji had only put in ten new costumes, all variations of his original green Chinese outfit, nothing too atrocious. Perhaps she was learning how to make clothes for the customer. If so, it was a good omen.


	2. Chapter 2: The Duel

**Dark and Light**

**Part I**

**Chapter 2: The Duel**

Sakura did a triple backflip on the gymnastics bar and landed neatly on the floor, spreading her arms wide. Wiping sweat off her face, she prepared to flip back on.

Syaoran appeared in the doorway before she could, however. Sakura looked down at her leotard, embarrassed, but smiled when Tomoyo appeared behind him, wielding a video camera.

"Guess what, Sakura!" she said. "Syaoran's agreed to it at last. You two can have a practice match! I'm sure that he hasn't had a good chance to practice his fighting in a while. From what I hear, the cards so far have all been easy."

_Everything's easy to Syaoran,_ Sakura thought. "Me? Against Syaoran?" He looked at her expressionlessly. His sword was not at his side.

"It'll settle the problem of who's better for once and for all!" Tomoyo said cheerfully. Sakura rolled her eyes. Tomoyo knew that Sakura didn't really care about such things. She suspected that Tomoyo was simply bored and needed an excuse to get Sakura in costume. No cards had appeared nearby since they'd moved in two days ago, and there was no school.

"It's Syaoran," she said finally, shooting Syaoran a glare. Why had he agreed to it? "He's obviously better."

He looked surprised briefly, then regained his usual expression. But he didn't say anything.

"Fine," she said, sighing and spreading her hands out. "Just give me a few seconds to cool off and get my things on." The floor of the practice room was hardwood, though there were soft mats beneath the gymnastics bars. But aside from the bars, the room was large and empty. She suspected Tomoyo had planned this all along.

"I have a new outfit for you to try on!" Tomoyo chirped, and nearly dragged Sakura out of the training room.

----

She crouched across from him, not in a gymnastics stance, but in a fighting one. Touya, her older brother, had always insisted that she learn self-defense, and Sakura had learned martial arts as a result.

Near the wall, on the other side of the gymnastics bar, Tomoyo rang a gong.

Sakura watched Syaoran warily, hoping to predict his move. She retreated back a little, closer to the wall, where she could more easily defend herself if he attacked too quickly. He did not move at all, and watched her equally closely, shifting his feet until he had found a comfortable balance.

She shook her head. _Might as well get this over with_. She took a running start toward him, a little surprised at how he still did not react, and launched herself into a cartwheel halfway across the floor.

He had been expecting it, so she quickly turned it into a handstand and kicked his shoulder with her foot. He staggered backwards, lashing out with his hand, trying to unbalance her. She dropped, rolled to one side, and came up standing several feet away. Syaoran was in a fighter's crouch.

_Why didn't he block or dodge? _She wondered, and gasped, jumping backwards as he leaped up and swung his leg around for a powerful kick. Her hands went up to block, but she was swept to the floor by the sheer power of it, unable to keep her balance.

Still, as she landed, she lashed out with a foot, hoping to catch him as he landed. He landed too far away and stepped back, waiting for her to recover.

She stood, catching her breath. They began to circle each other. She shook long bangs out of her eyes, trying to focus on his feet. Syaoran had learned kick-boxing when he was young, and he was good at it.

----

Syaoran looked at her. She was already tired, probably because she had just been doing gymnastics. Why now, out of all times? He looked at Daidouji, who was eagerly videotaping Sakura's every move, and wondered why she had set this up.

In that instance, Sakura lunged for him. He saw it out of the corner of his eye, just in time to dodge to one side, not in time to prevent a blow low to his hip. She'd kicked him. He stumbled backwards, flailing, and cursed his lack of attention.

She was waiting for him when he recovered. He could not let this go on longer; there was an easier way to defeat her. No matter how small and fast Sakura might be, Syaoran was still bigger.

He dove towards her, at her legs. She could not dodge fast enough.

They both crashed to the ground. He twisted as they fell, but so did she; instead of landing on top of her, they landed side-by-side, his head near her outflung arm.

"Keep going!" Daidouji called. Was she possessed? "I'll be right back!"

Sakura grabbed his arm. He had been distracted again; Sakura had not been. She tried to twist it, tried to get him to surrender, but she was too weak. He grabbed her hand with his other arm and tossed her away from him.

There was a lull as they both scrambled upright, sweating.

----

Sakura watched him regain his breath, knocked out by the fall. She tried not to show pain. The landing had been hard on her; she hadn't been expecting Syaoran to do something so simple, to just try to tackle her. She'd seen American football, and didn't think that Syaoran was the type.

Her hair had come down and fallen at her back, the bangs hanging over her eyes. It had been months since she'd cut it. She'd always depended on Tomoyo to do it, but somehow hadn't gotten around to asking yet.

"Don't hold back because I'm a girl," she said, trying to break the silence. Neither had said a word since they had begun the match.

While they had fought, they had circled around the room. The gymnastics bar was a few feet behind Syaoran. She looked at it deliberately, allowing Syaoran to see her, and then looked away.

He moved away from it a little, but kept close to it. He probably did not want her to reach it, she thought. Still, she moved nearer to it, and prepared herself. Athletics had always been her best subject.

With a tremendous leap, she jumped into the air, at Syaoran. He had not been expecting it, had been expecting her to go for the bar, and put his arms out to block; but she catapulted onto his shoulders and landed on the bar with only the tiniest wobble.

Syaoran, too, jumped onto the bar, as agile as she had been. She smiled inwardly. It was her territory now. It was easy to launch into a sideways handspring, planting her feet firmly in his chest.

He caught them, as she knew he would; but she compacted her body quickly, tucking her knees into her chest to gain momentum, causing him to lose his balance. They fell together, but she grabbed the bar; he landed on the mat.

_No_, she thought to herself, _this is not the way to win, either_.

Suddenly, Sakura did not want to fight at all. But the grim look on Syaoran's face told her that he wouldn't forgive her if she gave up now. She was tired.

He grabbed the support holding the bar up. She jumped off, but miscalculated her landing. She was too tired. He caught her before she fell, pinning her arms, wanting her to surrender. She twisted in his grip, lashing out with her feet.

----

Syaoran grunted as her foot caught him on the shoulder. He held fast to her arms, intending to pin her, but she still had strength, and fought him even harder. One of her arms broke free, and she struck at him wildly.

Instinctively, he released her, then grabbed her flailing forearm, prepared.

Time seemed to slow.

He swung, flinging her body around, away from him...

Into the bar.

Her back slammed into it, knocking it over on her path to the wall. He let go in that instant, suddenly aware of what he had done. The sound of her body hitting the wall made a dull thud.

As she fell, the bar followed her fall, and struck her on her way down.

She lay still.

----

"Sakura!" Syaoran's face hovered in her vision. His eyes were frightened. She could not help but wonder; Syaoran wasn't afraid of anything.

She felt dizzy. Something red trickled into her eyes, blinding her. Something heavy lay across her body.

"Sakura, can you hear me?"

"I surrender," she said, trying to smile, but it hurt to move. "What... what happened..."

Everything went black.


	3. Chapter 3: The Card

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OOC: I'd like to thank whoever's reading this -- now I'm rewarding you with a fairly long (and probably very confusing) chapter. The story is set in America, but to be honest, that doesn't matter so much, since now they're out in the middle of nowhere.

* * *

**Dark and Light**

**Part I**

**Chapter 3: The Card**

_She was standing on the floor mat again, facing Syaoran. _

"_Don't you know anything?" he taunted her. "Give up now. You're no card captor. You can't even catch a card unless I'm there."_

"_What...!" She gasped at his words, so uncharacteristic, so cruel of him._

"_You _are_ hopeless," he said. "Remember when you tried to use Windy to put out Firey? Or when you tried to catch Raiju? You don't know anything. You should have given me the cards to begin with." He advanced toward her. She could not move._

"_Wh – what did I do?" she asked, heart hammering. Her feet were stuck to the floor._

"_You took away my heritage," he snarled at her, "my birthright. When I go home, I'll be shamed."_

It's a dream,_ Sakura thought dully. "I'll wake up soon." _

"_You and your costumes!" he said cruelly, laughing. "Did I ever tell you how stupid you looked?"_

"_It's a dream," she said. Only a dream. Yet her eyes still stung._

_----_

Syaoran watched at Sakura's bedside as a single tear trickled out of the corner of her eye. "I'm so sorry, Syaoran," she said, her voice heartbreakingly pained. "I should... you're right, I should never have done it."

He felt a chill, wondering if she dreamed about him often. Another tear trickled down her cheek. He looked around. Daidouji was nowhere in sight. He leaned forward quickly, brushing the tear away.

----

Sakura stirred at the familiar touch on her face. She opened her eyes wide, staring straight into a pair of puzzled amber ones, and flinched. "S-syaoran," she said timidly, looking away.

Syaoran stood up from her bedside, hands deep in the pockets of his jeans. He didn't say anything.

"You're better," she said, smiling weakly, trying to get him to look back at her. Her head throbbed with pain. "I've told Tomoyo-chan so many times, but she insisted..."

Still no response. He had his back turned towards her, obviously wanting to leave.

"How... long?" she asked, hoping he would turn back to look.

"There's a clock in here," he said shortly, and walked out, straight past the thoughtful gaze of Tomoyo, who was just walking in.

"Sakura-chan, I'm so glad you're all right," Tomoyo said. "It's been six hours since. Li wouldn't leave you the whole time." She carried a tray to Sakura's bedside and set it down on the nightstand. "I'm really sorry, Sakura-chan. It's all my fault..."

Sakura remembered her dream, and shook her head slowly. "No, it's not, Tomoyo-chan. I was careless..." A sense of foreboding came over her, followed by a wave of pain and exhaustion. Tomoyo must have seen the look on her face, because she pushed Sakura back into her pillo.

"Just rest, Sakura-chan," Tomoyo said, her pretty face concerned. "Li or I will be here while you sleep."

Sakura fell back into the depths of slumber.

----

When she woke again, it was dark. Almost no moonlight filtered in through the window, casting the room in dark shadows within the shadows.

"You're finally awake," said Syaoran's voice, scornfully. She looked around the room, but could not see him. "Some card captor you are. It wasn't any trouble knocking you out. You're hopeless, Kinomoto."

_A dream_, Sakura thought, _a dream._ But her head throbbed with pain, reminding her that she was awake. Where was he? She couldn't find him.

"Look at you, just lying in bed like you have nothing important to do. What are you going to do if a card comes? Cry and run to me for help?"

The words cut her heart like a knife. Why was he being so cruel? A new wave of pain swept through her body. This wasn't a dream. "Stop it!" she yelled, her voice choked off with the pain that increased as she spoke. "I'm not doing anything to you! Why do you hate me, Syaoran?"

----

Outside of Sakura's door, Syaoran paused. Daidouji had just gone to bed, asking him to come take his place in Sakura's room. Daidouji knew him all too well, knew that he wouldn't sleep if Sakura was being left alone.

"Why do you hate me, Syaoran?"

Her cry, faint but audible through the closed door, seemed to echo in his ears. He stepped back, stunned. How had she known he was there?

"You're so cruel," she continued. Her voice was near to a sob. "I never... I never thought there'd be anything wrong with depending on you. We're friends, aren't we?"

He slumped against the wall. Was she really talking to him? What _was_ she talking about? His chest hurt. What could he do? What could he say?

---

Sakura fell silent. Her chest heaved with sobs that she did her best to control, though they came out choked and painful. _Syaoran, Syaoran, _she thought, her chest constricting. No, he'd called her _Kinomoto_. Now she would have to call him Li from now on, as if they were strangers again.

After a moment, she heard the door to her room open. She looked instinctively, and there it was – Syaoran's shape in the doorway.

---

Syaoran touched the doorknob tenatively, made up his mind, and opened the door. He stepped in cautiously, looked up, and stopped.

Sakura faced him on her feet. The Sword was in her hand. The bandage around her head was marked with blood.

"What... what are you doing?" he asked in disbelief.

His answer came when she slashed out at him. He leaped back, only his reflexes saving him from serious injury. Where was Daidouji? Surely she had security cameras. Something was wrong. He dodged again, looking toward Sakura's bed. It was empty. The girl standing in front of him was Sakura.

"The cameras are off," Sakura said, smirking at him. The expression did not fit on her normally gentle face. "Daidouji shut them off for me." She swung at him again, cornering him against the wall with her reckless swordwork.

"Are you crazy?!" he shouted, trying to think as he spoke. "This isn't the way to beat me! You could kill me if you hit me with the Sword card!" It could only mean one thing: Sakura was possessed.

Anger welled up in him. What kind of card would be so cruel as to make her fight when she was injured? He vowed to end it fast. But what card was doing it? He looked at her, and threw himself sideways just in time to avoid being pierced through his chest. Instead, the Sword slashed his arm, ripping his shirt.

Sakura laughed eeriely. "You'd better fight me. You might die."

"You want... you want me to admit you're better?" Syaoran searched his mind for a way to distract her – it – as he began drawing on his magic. He had no choice; in order to survive, he would at least have to defend himself.

The door to the room swung shut. Somehow, the moon had disappeared completely behind the clouds. The room was dark, so dark that he could not see her.

Instinctively he ducked, heard the whoosh as the Sword passed over his head. He gripped the talisman around his neck, summoning his own sword to him. It formed in his hand, just in time for him to swing up and parry a heavy blow.

"Of course I'm better," the voice taunted him. He could not see her in the dark. "I was just too kind to... hurt you." Again, that eerie laugh.

Syaoran called fire to him, drawing upon his mastery of the elements. The small flame illuminated only Sakura's face, showing it drawn in a malicious mask. He could not help but shiver. What was that card doing to Sakura?

Almost too late, he saw two cards blossoming in her hand: Fight and Jump. Surprised, he jumped back as she took a flying leap at him, lashing out with her feet as well as with the Sword.

"How is that possible?" he gasped, dodging away. His back hit the frame of the bed.

"We're just getting started," said the sinister Sakura.

He winced, ignoring the pain from his arm. Was Sakura inside somewhere? Was she fighting? "Sakura," he called out. "Sakura, fight it! Please!"

"I am Sakura," said the figure in front of him. "And I'm going to kill you."

---

Sakura stared at the figure which shimmered in and out of view in front of Syaoran. It was a replica of her – bruised cheek, bandaged head, and nightclothes all – except holding the Sword in one hand. Sakura jumped up in bed, sleep forgotten. "Syaoran!" she called. He didn't seem to hear her. Instead, the replica was speaking to him.

As they fought, she crawled to the edge of the bed, dizzy with the pain from her injury. She reached her hand out and found a barrier there. She could not get out. There was an invisible wall surrounding the bed, trapping her in.

She reached for her neck. The new cards had a new key: the key of gold, which had itself been the first thing that Syaoran and Sakura had fought together in this country. She had not had to fight to gain the key of Clow.

Still, gold: fitting, for an American knockoff of the Clow cards. "Kin no chikara," she said, grasping at her necklace. _Power of gold..._

Then she gasped.

The key wasn't there. The Kin key – the key of gold – was no longer hanging on her necklace.

"Syaoran!" she called, though it was now too dark to see him. She felt a body bump against the bed, but she couldn't hear anything. Was that Syaoran? Did Syaoran think that he was really fighting her?

Tears stung her eyes suddenly as she sat back in bed, helpless. It was a card. It had to be a card. But what kind of card could take her key, confine her to her bed, and trick Syaoran? She closed her eyes. The pain in her head receded momentarily. The person taunting her before... had it really been Syaoran? He wasn't that cruel. Sakura knew that.

Now he was fighting the card alone. She could not see him, or call to him, or help him. Syaoran knew that Sakura tried her best. Syaoran was really kind, even if he didn't show it. How could she have doubted him?

Suddenly there was the sound of a cry – Syaoran's voice! The room lit up. She saw Syaoran immediately. He had fallen to the floor. His sword – had he used it? – was nowhere to be seen.

Syaoran stood up. Blood was dripping down both his arms and from a cut on his cheek. Sakura swallowed, holding her breath. _Syaoran,_ she thought, wishing desperately that she could help him.

----

"I won't fight you, Sakura." Syaoran tried not to show the pain from the cut on his arm, which bled profusely. He could barely see through the sweat running into his eyes.

She – no, it – laughed. "You would rather die?"

"No," he said. It was true. But surely, somewhere, Sakura was inside that _thing_, fighting it. "Sakura! Please, fight it!"

"I'm fighting you." He shivered again, at the strange, foreign words that used Sakura's voice. "You will die."

"Sakura!" he shouted. "Sakura, you have to fight it!"

----

Sakura stared at Syaoran. He was shouting something, but she could not hear it. But when she looked at his lips, she thought she could see him shouting her name.

_Syaoran, it's not me,_ she thought. _Syaoran, I'm sorry, I'm so useless..._

----

"You won't get me to hurt her," he told the nameless card. "I'd rather die." Sakura was there somewhere. If she only had enough reason to fight – if only he could get her to react...

She lifted the sword, leveling it at him.

----

Sakura staggered upright on the bed, holding onto the bedpost. _Syaoran,_ she thought. _Syaoran, please, fight back! _How could she let him know that wasn't her?

The imposter's lips curled in a deadly grin. She saw her own face, twisted by evil, and cried out.

"No!"

She backed up on the bed and then ran, leaped off of it, heedless of the barrier. There was only the slightest sensation of tingling, then she saw the body of the false Sakura in front of her, turning in shock -

And then she landed on the floor with a cry of pain.

"So," the false Sakura said mockingly. "You have broken my spell, girl. But what you have is merely luck – there is no skill."

She looked up, just in time to see herself fade away. Six cards and a small gold key fell to the floor.


	4. Chapter 4: Mysteries

OOC: This is a low-action chapter... however, things will start to pick up in action (and romance!) after this chapter. Please look forward to it!

* * *

**  
**

**Dark and Light  
Part I  
Chapter 4  
Mysteries**

When Sakura woke up, the sun was shining brightly. She looked around the unfamiliar room, blinking her eyes tiredly. Then she remembered where she was: Tomoyo's mansion.

They had all fallen asleep in the same room. Tomoyo and Sakura had shared Tomoyo's huge bed, while Syaoran had slept on the couch. She looked at Tomoyo, who lay still fast asleep in her pajamas. Then she looked over at Syaoran, who lay on the couch. He was covered in bandages, and slept with his sword in hand.

She closed her eyes, feeling the aches and pains in her own body as well. She'd hurt herself, diving off the bed. The ache of her head had faded away a little, and the events of the previous day seemed distant, almost unreal. The match against Syaoran, his fight with the imposter...

Sakura got out of bed and left the room quietly, lost in thought as she wandered back down the hallway to her room. If only she could call Keroberos... but would he know about these new cards? There was no guardian beast of the cards and no book. In capturing these cards, Sakura and Syaoran had no help save their own wits.

She shivered suddenly. Something had come into her room last night. Something that had taken on her form, and used a sword against Syaoran. Something that had used the Sword and Silence cards – Sakura's cards – against Syaoran and against her. And somehow, Syaoran had not been able to see her – and therefore, whatever power had come in, had also used the Invisibility card, which was Syaoran's

Was it possible? Neither of them had seen or sensed a person coming in. Was there a card... that could wield the powers of other cards?

"Sakura," said Syaoran's voice from behind her. Sakura jumped.

"S-Syaoran," she managed, heart beating quickly. "How... how are you? Do you feel better?"

"I'm fine," he said. He was also dressed in pajamas, which Tomoyo had insisted on. No doubt had Tomoyo left him alone, he would still be wearing his blood-stained clothes, stubbornly refusing help. "Sakura, last night..."

She turned away, looking at the floor. "Syaoran-kun... I'm really sorry."

Only then did she realize she had used the honorific, as she had when they were children. Syaoran-kun... the name she had called him back _then_, when she'd told him she loved him... A blush rose to her cheeks, but he hadn't seemed to notice.

----

Syaoran put his hand on her shoulder, though she'd turned away. "Thanks... for helping me," he said.

She turned suddenly, hands balled into fists. "Why didn't you fight it? Why... why did you let yourself get hurt so badly?"

Syaoran nearly stepped back at the tears brimming at the corner of her eyes, though she bit her lip, as if struggling to hold back.

"Sakura," he said awkwardly. How could he make her understand? "Sakura, I... I thought it was you."

"You fought me seriously yesterday," she said. "When we were in Tomoyo-chan's gym..."

He heard the echo of a voice in his mind. _I'm so sorry, Syaoran... _If there had been a time when Sakura really wanted to hurt him, then what could he do?

"I thought... maybe you would be able to fight it off. So I wanted to wait..."

"You got seriously hurt!" she cried, shaking her head violently. "I couldn't... I couldn't even do anything..."

He caught his breath. The reason why Sakura had been so worried... was it because she hadn't been able to help him? It was too ironic. Time after time, in their childhood, it was _he_ who had felt that he couldn't do anything. Syaoran knew the feeling of helplessness all too well.

"You saved me," he said, finally. "Whatever you did, you stopped it. Whatever _it_ was..."

"Not before you got hurt," she whispered, sniffling. "Not before you got hurt so badly..."

"I... I hurt you, too," he said. "It was an accident, but you got hurt really badly. If you had landed the wrong way, you might've... your neck might've broken. It's the same thing... it's not your fault I got hurt. And you did your best to help me..."

"Syaoran," she said, her voice shaky through tears. He watched her wipe her face clean and look up at him. "I was really worried that you would blame yourself for hurting me. I'm glad you understand..."

He felt himself blush, but managed to hold back his embarrassment. "It's more important that you don't blame yourself, Sakura," he replied. _But you getting hurt... that really is my fault._

----

A half-hour later Tomoyo found them in the kitchen, two floors down from the bedrooms. Sakura cooked pancakes on the stove while Syaoran set the table and poured juice for the three of them.

"Good morning, Tomoyo-chan," Sakura said, trying to sound cheerful.

"Good morning, Sakura-chan, Li," Tomoyo replied, sounding like her usual self. Even so, Sakura did not miss the concerned look she gave both of them. "Are you two feeling better?"

"Of course!" Sakura said, flipping a pancake expertly.

"Mmm," Syaoran mumbled in reply. Sakura couldn't help but smile at his stubbornness. Syaoran, even though he was hurt much worse than Sakura, was still trying to act tough. Some things never changed.

"I have some interesting pictures to show you," Tomoyo said, setting down a stack of photographs on the table. "After I got out of the shower, I checked all the cameras in Sakura-chan's room. All of the video cameras had blank tapes, but there was one little photo camera hidden in the bedpost. Whatever turned the video cameras off didn't realize there was a regular camera there... I'd forgotten it was there myself until I checked." She put on an apron, and started washing the bowl that had held the pancake batter.

"Oh?" Syaoran finished folding napkins and went to the pictures, looking at them. "Let's see..."

Sakura turned from the stove, but the table was too far away and she couldn't leave the pancakes. "Wait, Syaoran, I want to see too! The pancakes are almost done, let's look at them together."

"All right, all right," he relented. "I'll get the syrup."

Sakura tossed the final two pancakes into the air and grabbed the pancake plate, catching the flying food with it. Tomoyo laughed and clapped, wiping her hands dry and taking off the apron. "Let's eat, Sakura-chan."

They sat together at the table. It was a small breakfast table; elsewhere in Tomoyo's mansion, there was a gigantic dining room, big enough for a party. Sakura grabbed the stack of pictures as she sat down, thinking, _There are probably some really embarrassing pictures in here. I'll skip them, so S yaoran won't see..._

Tomoyo reached over and took them from her. "That's no fair, Sakura-chan. Then Li won't get to see them."

Sakura sighed.

"Here," Tomoyo said,. "Syaoran, it looks like you're not fighting anything."

Sakura leaned over and looked at the photograph, which Syaoran was studying carefully. It was a high-resolution shot of Syaoran flying through the air – as if he'd been hit or thrown by something. Behind him was Sakura's bed, and Sakura herself, leaning against the bedroom, mouth open as if she were shouting something.

Sakura blushed.

"And these two were taken two seconds apart," Tomoyo said, putting two down on the table. One showed Syaoran leaning back, as if dodging. The next one showed a tear in his shirt, and blood flying in midair. "There's nothing to show how you got hurt."

Then it dawned on all of them.

"If it didn't block the camera from taking shots," Syaoran began.

"Then we should have been able to see whoever – or whatever – was doing it," Tomoyo said, sounding worried.

"But there's nothing," Sakura said. Suddenly, she felt afraid. "Could it be... that it wasn't a person controlling the cards? Possibly a..." Her throat constricted. "G-g-g-"

"Ghost." Syaoran completed the word for her. "Sakura, think! You've always been afraid of ghosts, even though you can't see them. Did you feel like that last night?"

Sakura thought about it hard. _The truth is... I only felt the cards. I was afraid, but it was because Syaoran-kun was getting hurt... _She shook her head. "I don't think so... I only felt the cards."

Silence reigned at the table. Sakura looked at Syaoran's hands, which were clenched into fists on the table, and swallowed. Syaoran, too, was scared.

"Let's eat," Tomoyo said softly, breaking the silence. "The pancakes will get cold."


End file.
